


Changes13T.A.R.D.I.S.

by krikkiter68



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Mentions of Death, Regeneration, Transformation, emotion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-06 01:44:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11590410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krikkiter68/pseuds/krikkiter68
Summary: Bill meets The Doctor after their regeneration.





	Changes13T.A.R.D.I.S.

Heather took Bill's hand, and they both found themselves materialising in the middle of beautiful, sun-dappled woodland.

"Well," Heather said, smiling, "here you are."

"This?" Bill said, perplexed, looking around her. "Yeah, it's pretty and all, but where's the surprise?"

"Patience, my love. You'll see," Heather said.

"Wait - !" Bill said, but Heather was already fading away, Cheshire Cat-like, until only her eyes and smile were visible in the branches. Bill blinked, and they had vanished, too. Then her heart leaped, as a very familiar wheezing, whirring noise filled the air, and the TARDIS vworped into existence at the top of a steep incline.

"Doctor?" Bill called.

She raced towards the TARDIS, her trainers almost slipping on the muddy ground, and knocked loudly on the door.

"Doctor!" she shouted. Oh God, she thought. He's alive. He's alive!

The door swung open. A tall, slender, beautiful woman, clad in a white jumpsuit and ankle boots, stood in the doorway. Her mouth fell open.

"Bill...?"

"Uh, sorry?" Bill said. "I'm...I'm looking for the Doctor. Is he there?"

The woman smiled, incredulously.

"I'm right here. Oh, Bill. I thought...I thought you were dead..."

"You're - you're his companion, right? Or, his wife? Are you? He said he had a wife..."

The woman's nose crinkled as she smiled. Bill found it very endearing.

"I have a wife, yes. Maybe I'll see her again, one day. Oh Bill...I can see you're confused. Won't you come in?"

 

Bill gazed around at the TARDIS walls.

"Looks just the same."

The Doctor looked around, surveying the portholes.

"I haven't got round to redecorating yet." 

She leaned against the console.

"The thing is, Bill, my race has a trick for cheating death, and I've just used it again. Won't you sit down?"

"Thanks," Bill said, sitting on one of the impractical chairs that was too far away from the console.

"When we're mortally injured and dying, my race can change every cell in their bodies. We can emerge from the process looking younger, or older, our skin can be darker or lighter, and we can change sex, too."

She looked Bill in the eyes. Bill's heart started beating faster. She could see something ancient, something burning within them, something unmistakable.

"Bill, I'm the Doctor."

"Oh my God," Bill breathed out. She ran to her, and the two of them embraced, tightly.

"I thought you'd died..." Bill sobbed.

The Doctor stroked her back, soothing her.

"I didn't die, Bill. I changed myself. I regenerated. It's happened to me many times before."

"Does...does it...hurt?" Bill sniffled.

"Yes."

Bill gulped. The Doctor stroked her hair.

"But not for long."

"Can you...can you choose what you're gonna look like? 'Cause frankly, you look amazing now, erm, Ma'am..."

The Doctor laughed.

"Doctor, please! No, it's a lottery, you don't know what you're going to get. It's been a very, very long time since I've been female, though."

"Right," Bill said. The Doctor produced a tissue from nowhere and handed it to her, and she used it to wipe her swimming eyes. "Your human friends - you must've had some strange reactions from them, though."

"Well. I'm told I had a friend. Clara. I'm still not sure if she was real or not. She was used to seeing me as a young man, and then I changed into the version you knew. She found it hard to deal with."

"Hmm," Bill said, frowning. "She sounds a bit shallow, if you ask me, real or not."

The Doctor gave a dismissive wave.

"She fancied the other one. She wasn't shallow. She just had culture shock. It happens to the best of us. I had another friend, ever so long ago. Rose. She was so young. I changed into a younger looking form, and suddenly she had a different pair of eyes looking into hers. People find change so hard to cope with, Bill."

Bill looked thoughtful.

"There's one thing I wanna know..."

The Doctor leaned forward.

"...and that is, is that gonna be your outfit from now on? The last version of you liked his capes..."

The Doctor laughed, ducking her head, her blonde hair falling across her eyes.

"Truthfully? I don't know. It looked nice in the wardrobe, but I'm finding it a bit impractical."

"When you go to the toilet, you mean? I know. Those things are a nightmare," Bill said, grinning.

The Doctor straightened up again, and smiled.

"What happened to you?"

Bill hesitated.

"I...I died. And then Heather found me. I'm like her, now. We're together, and we're in love."

The Doctor leaned forward and squeezed her hand.

"I couldn't be happier for you, Bill."

"She must have known about you changing. She's crafty, that one." Bill wiped her eyes again. "Where's Nardole?"

The Doctor gazed into the console and tapped something.

"He stayed behind on the planet, looking after the children. Last thing I heard, he'd married Nazran."

"Oh, good for him."

The Doctor gazed at Bill.

"Fancy a trip? Anywhere you like."

"Why not? Heather can pick me up, anywhere. I'm not restricted, not anymore."

"Great," the Doctor said, turning a dial, "where do you fancy going?"

Bill grinned.

"Oh, I know just the place."

 

"Well, now," the Doctor said, as the two of them sat at the back of the packed lecture hall, "this is going to be interesting."

"How do you mean? You've already made this speech."

"It's always fascinating to see your past self in action. I wonder what he'd make of this new body."

A tall, very familiar figure walked onto the stage, the lights glinting in his long, silver curls, and a low hum of excitement resonated in the audience. The Doctor raised her eyebrows.

"Hmm. I didn't think so at the time, but I really was handsome back then."

Bill squeezed her hand.

"I liked your face. You had such a kind face. You still do. But...I have to say, I prefer the way you look now."

"Thanks, Bill. Come and see me any time you like. You'll always be welcome in the TARDIS, you and Heather."

"Shhh," Bill said, as the Twelfth Doctor cleared his throat and looked around at the audience. Silence fell as his gaze swept across them all.

"Time," the Twelfth Doctor intoned. "Time. And. Relative. Dimension. In. Space..."

THE END


End file.
